10-02-2020, 02:11 PM
Thanks again, guys.
It's probably not all that interesting for viewers, as there's a lot of duplication, but I'm hoping that the photos will become slightly more interesting once all of the details have been added.
Of course, once the cars are painted and lettered, most of the details will be unnoticeable, due to the black paint.
Part of my reason for starting this thread is because of my connections to the TH&B. The first six years of my life were spent with the TH&B (along with part-owners CPR and NYC) trains passing right by our front porch on an elevated right-of-way close to downtown Hamilton, Ontario. There was a steel water tower just down the street, and the TH&B's main station and headquarters were on the next block west.
After that, we moved to the city's east end, where the TH&B was not visible, but still only a block away. After that, we moved to the west "Mountain" (actual a continuation of the Niagara Escarpment, but it's been known as "the Mountain" in Hamilton pretty-much forever). There, the TH&B wasn't visible, but a 5 minute bike ride would take us to the edge of the Escarpment, where there was a clear view of the TH&B's Aberdeen Yard. We often took along a telescope, and that's where and how I learned that Hamilton, as Canada's most industrialised city, could host freight cars from pretty-well any common carrier railroad in North America.
Later in life, that knowledge lead to the diverse range of road names on freight cars, from all over the continent, on my layout.
After marriage, my wife and I moved down to the lower city, towards the east end, but not as far east as the previous east-end home. There, we were only a couple of blocks from the TH&B again.
The next move was to Stoney Creek, once a town of its own, but now a part of Hamilton. Stoney Creek is where the TH&B begins in-earnest its ascent to the top of the Escarpment, although those tracks weren't all that close-by.
We later moved out in the boondocks, on the escarpment, but probably 20 miles west of the TH&B tracks and not near any other railroads either.
That lasted only for a year or so, and the next move was to rural Grimsby, atop the Escarpment, but not overlooking it. That house was on high ground, and it was easy to see TH&B trains, having gained the Escarpment, passing in the distance on their way to Smithville and later Welland, Ontario, and then on to Buffalo, New York.
We later moved down the "Mountain" into the town of Grimsby...no where near the TH&B, but pretty close (a couple of blocks north) of the CNR line which runs between Niagara Falls and Hamilton.
Several years later, we moved to our current location, again only two blocks from the CNR, but this time we're two blocks south of the CN line.
I can, with a drive of ten minutes-or-so, catch the TH&B as it passes through Smithville, Ontario, so, even though it's no longer known as the TH&B, it's still a part of me.
I figured that if I was going to present some boring photos, it would be only appropriate that I also include some boring background info, too.
Wayne
It's probably not all that interesting for viewers, as there's a lot of duplication, but I'm hoping that the photos will become slightly more interesting once all of the details have been added.
Of course, once the cars are painted and lettered, most of the details will be unnoticeable, due to the black paint.
Part of my reason for starting this thread is because of my connections to the TH&B. The first six years of my life were spent with the TH&B (along with part-owners CPR and NYC) trains passing right by our front porch on an elevated right-of-way close to downtown Hamilton, Ontario. There was a steel water tower just down the street, and the TH&B's main station and headquarters were on the next block west.
After that, we moved to the city's east end, where the TH&B was not visible, but still only a block away. After that, we moved to the west "Mountain" (actual a continuation of the Niagara Escarpment, but it's been known as "the Mountain" in Hamilton pretty-much forever). There, the TH&B wasn't visible, but a 5 minute bike ride would take us to the edge of the Escarpment, where there was a clear view of the TH&B's Aberdeen Yard. We often took along a telescope, and that's where and how I learned that Hamilton, as Canada's most industrialised city, could host freight cars from pretty-well any common carrier railroad in North America.
Later in life, that knowledge lead to the diverse range of road names on freight cars, from all over the continent, on my layout.
After marriage, my wife and I moved down to the lower city, towards the east end, but not as far east as the previous east-end home. There, we were only a couple of blocks from the TH&B again.
The next move was to Stoney Creek, once a town of its own, but now a part of Hamilton. Stoney Creek is where the TH&B begins in-earnest its ascent to the top of the Escarpment, although those tracks weren't all that close-by.
We later moved out in the boondocks, on the escarpment, but probably 20 miles west of the TH&B tracks and not near any other railroads either.
That lasted only for a year or so, and the next move was to rural Grimsby, atop the Escarpment, but not overlooking it. That house was on high ground, and it was easy to see TH&B trains, having gained the Escarpment, passing in the distance on their way to Smithville and later Welland, Ontario, and then on to Buffalo, New York.
We later moved down the "Mountain" into the town of Grimsby...no where near the TH&B, but pretty close (a couple of blocks north) of the CNR line which runs between Niagara Falls and Hamilton.
Several years later, we moved to our current location, again only two blocks from the CNR, but this time we're two blocks south of the CN line.
I can, with a drive of ten minutes-or-so, catch the TH&B as it passes through Smithville, Ontario, so, even though it's no longer known as the TH&B, it's still a part of me.
I figured that if I was going to present some boring photos, it would be only appropriate that I also include some boring background info, too.
Wayne